The present disclosure relates generally to fluid delivery and, more particularly, to fluid delivery associated with ophthalmic surgery and ophthalmic drug delivery.
During ophthalmic surgery, a need exists to inject fluids into the eye at very precise volumes, at very precise flow rates, at very specific locations within the eye. Presently, ophthalmic injections are typically manually made using a conventional syringe and needle. However, such injections can lead to tissue damage, such as cause by “unsteady” injections. Additionally, the volume of material injected in this manner is difficult to control because the scale on the syringe is generally not accurate relative to the small injection volume. Accuracy of the amount of material is also reduced because of parallax error. Further, the fluid flow rates of such syringes are also difficult to control since the flow rate of material from the syringe is controlled by the force asserted by the operator. Still further, controlling an amount of material injected into the eye may be limited by the ability of the operator to accurately to stop the injection when the desired amount of material has been injected
Accordingly, there exists a need for injectors, systems, and associated methods, for use in injecting materials during a medical procedure that facilitate the injection of precisely controlled volumes of fluids at precisely controlled rates.